Judge ponders Microsoft license sales
InfoWorld | at | by Mike
A U.S. District Court judge has asked the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate why only nine companies have signed up to license Microsoft's technology for their own software products, an offering that is part of the federal antitrust settlement with Microsoft. During an antitrust settlement oversight hearing Friday, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly questioned why more companies had not taken advantage of the licensing portion of the antitrust settlement, approved by Kollar-Kotelly in late 2002.
Kollar-Kotelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asked the DOJ to interview software companies to see if changes are needed in the licensing terms in the antitrust settlement. In a July hearing, Kollar-Kotelly said new licensing terms that Microsoft would later announce should satisfy concerns over royalty rates Microsoft was charging for its communications protocols.